Machinery for cutting and folding paper or other materials.



No. 718,316. PATENTED JAN. 13, 19 03. E. H. GOTTRELL.

MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1902.-

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PATENTED JAN. 13,.1903.

v1E2. H. OOTTRELL. MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1902.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H0 MODEL.

'PATENTED JAN. 13, 1903.

E. H. GOTTRELL. MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND POLDIN G PAPER OR OTHER MATERIALS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 22, 1902.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL.

fivenZZn' No. 718,316. PATENTED JAN. 13, 1903.

, E. H. COTTRELL. I MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1902. H0 MODEL.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

No. 718,316. 7 PATBNTED JAN. 13, 1903.

E. H. GOTTRELL. MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1902.

N0 MODEL. 7 SHEETSBHBET 5.

A a -"m. IIII llllltl lilllllll'llIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllrlhiii \Q if K "I l E I-IIIIIIIIIIIIIH Wa'iheazrarx- PATENTED JAN. 13, 1903.

- E. H. GOTTRELL. MAGHINERY FOR CUTTING AND FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1902. H0 MODEL. 7 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

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No. 718,316. PATENTED JAN. 13, 1903.

E. H. GOTTRELL. MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER MATERIALS.

APPLIGATIQN FILED MAY 22, 1902.

NO MODEL. 7 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

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UNIT D STATES PATENT OFFICE;

EDGAR H. COTTRELL, OF STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO C. B. COTTRELL do SONS COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINERY FOR CUTTING AND FOLDING PAPER OR OTHER MATERIALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 718,316, dated January 13, 1903 Application filed May 22,1902.

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDGAR H. OOTTRELL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Stonington, in the county of New London and State of Connecticut, haveinveuted a new and useful Improvement in Machinery for Cutting and FoldingPaper or other Materials, of which the following is a specification.

A cutting and folding machine embodying this invention is more especially intended to be used as an adjunct to a perfecting printing-machine in which the printing of the several pages for one signature is performed on the web before cutting the latterinto sheets.

The principal object of the invention is to bring the whole product of one revolution of such a printing-machine into one cut and folded signature of. a considerable number of pages without smutting.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I have illustrated it by drawings of a cutting and folding machine which produces a signature of twenty-four pages and will describe it with reference thereto, first briefly stating the successive acts to be performed by the machine to produce the signature. The first of these acts is the slitting of the printed portion of the web between the pages in the direction in which the web is fed to the machine. The next act is the severing from the so-slit portions of the web by successive cu ts between its pages of sheets, each representing four pages; next,. the piling of all of the so severed or cut portions one above another, and finally the folding together at one operation of all the so cut and piled sheets into the one signature.

In the said machine illustrated there are two sets of piling and folding devices for one set of slitting and severing devices, the two sets operating alternately in connection with the one set of slitting and severing devices to produce a signature.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2, an elevation taken at the-right-hand end of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a longitudinal vertical section parallel with Fig. l in the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig.

3* is a side view, on a larger scale, of parts of Fig. 3; Fig. 4, a horizontal section in the line Serial No. 108,482. (No model.)

4 4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a transverse vertical section in the line 5 5 of Figs. 1, 3, 4; Fig. 6, a diagram of the product of one revolution of a printing-machine, showing the lines in which the slitting, severing, and folding take place; Fig. 7, a diagram of one of the four-page sheets into which the product represented in Fig. 6 is cut preparatory to the piling and folding; Figs. 8, 9, 10,-10*., 11, 12, 13, let, 15, 16 are views of certain details of the machine, which will be hereinafter explained.

Referring first to Fig. 6, the lines a a rep resent two slits in the direction in which the web is fed to the machine. The lines I) 1) represent two successively-rnade transverse cuts by which the printed and slit portions of the web are severed therefrom into six sheets consisting of two groups of three S S S each representing four pages, which sheets being piled one upon another,as hereinafter described,are all folded at once and together in the dotted lines o c to form the signature of twenty-four pages.

Referring next to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, A B designate the framing of the machine, of which the end which appears at the right in Figs. 1 and 3 and at the bottom of Fig. 4 is to be arranged toward the delivery of the printingmachine. In the upper parts of this framing are the shafts d d of the rotary slitter, in which there are two sets e e, as shown in Fig. 2, between which the web f after passing over a guide-roll d is drawn by rolls g g and slit lengthwise on its way to cutter-rolls h h to be cut transversely. The slitter-shafts d d and the shafts of the several rolls mentioned have suitable hearings in the framing, and they may be driven in any suitable manner. The slitters e e and the transverse cutter-rolls h It may be of any well-known or suitable kind.

Below thecutting-rolls' are situated three rotary carriers, represented as consisting of reels C C C of a diameter twice that of the cylinders of the printing-machine. The shafts 41 1} 2' of these reels are arranged parallel with those of the slitters e e and cutters h h in suitable bearings in the side frames A. The said reels carry, respectively, grippers j j*, j j'*, and 1 3 the purpose of which is to take-the group of three sheets produced by each transtoo verse cut of IL 7L and deposit them in line with each other upon one or other of two receiving-tables D D, which are arranged side by side at some distance apart, one under each of the reels 0 C as shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, the said table D being stationary between the two folding gripper-carrying racks E of one endless carrier and the said table D being stationary between the two similar folding-racks E of another endless carrier, said carriers being arranged transversely to the axes of the reels. The purpose of said carriers is to take the sheets, such as are illustrated by Fig. 7, from the tables D D and deposit them in single piles upon each of two folding-plates F F, arranged in advance of said tables and slightly below them between the carrier-racks.

The reels 0 G C are geared together by spur-gears k 70 70 to run continuously in the direction indicated upon them in Fig. 3 by arrows and are driven at a surface velocity corresponding with that of the cylinder of the printing-machine by a driving-gear Z, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 4,) which gears with the gear Z on the central or intermediate reel C. It will be understood by the arrows on the reels in Fig. 3 that C C rotate in corresponding directions and O in the opposite direction. The grippers on each reel, of which there are two sets, are spaced at ninety degrees apart, as shown in Fig. 3, and those on the several reels are relatively arranged, as shown in that figure, so that those,jj*, on the reel 0 may receive twice in succession the sheets severed from the web by the cutters h h and deposit them one on another on the table D, while those,jj*, on the reel 0 are inoperative, and that while those,jj*, are inoperative 4o jj'* may in the same way take the severed sheets twice in succession and pass them on to the grippers j j of the reel C to be thereby deposited one on another upon the table D. In thus transferring the sheets from the reel 0 to that C they are turned over and caused to be deposited on the table D right side upward to correspond with those deposited upon the table D.

The reel-grippers are all alike. One of them, 7' belonging to the reel 0 is represented by a side view, Fig. 3*, on a larger scale than Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Each consists of a rocking spindle 33, arranged lengthwise of the reel in suitable bearings therein and furnished with gripper-fingers 34, which operate in connection with pads 35 on the circular leaves of the reel. On the front end of this spindle is affixed a lever, one end of which is connected with a rod 36, which runs through a guide on the adjacent leaf of the reel and has applied to it a spring 37, which acts to close the fingers upon the pads. At

the other end of this lever is a roller 38, which in the revolution of the reel passes in contact with one of a series of cams z 2* z z 2 5 which are shown in dotted outline in Fig. 3 and one of which is shown in full outline in Fig. These cams are affixed to the frames B in proper positions for the purpose of opening the fingers of the respective grippers on the several reels at the proper times and in the proper positions for receiving the cut sheets and delivering them to the tables D D in the order hereinbefore explained.

The foldin gracks, as they are commonly termed, are or may be such as are well known and commonly used for carrying sheets of paper in printing and folding machines-that is to say, they consistof endless chains EE, carrying grippers 0" r 7' and running on wheels m on, pivoted in stationary frames G G, in which are formed horizontal slides for guiding the straight portions of the chains. The receiving-tables D D are supported by brackets 02 n on the rack-frames G G. Near the outer edge of each of the receiving-tables D D there are attached to the outer rackframes G G stops q (see Figs. 3, 10, 15, 16) to stop the sheets as they are dropped on the table by the reel-grippersjj andj j to be taken therefrom by the rack-grippers r 'r r and deposited upon the folding-plates F F. Each pair of folding-racks is provided with six pairs of these grippers arranged in two groups 1" r r of three pairs each; butI have thought it sufficient to show (see Fig. 3) one of the groups of each pair of racks. The said grippers and the cams for operating them are shown in detail in Figs. 8, 9, 10, 10*, of which Figs. 8, 9, 10 represent three transverse sections of one of the racks E and its slide in the frame G at different points in their length and show separately one gripper of each of the three pairs in a group and its opcrating-cam, and Fig. 10* represents atrausverse section corresponding with Fig. 10 of the opposite rack E and its grippers and cam. The said grippers are represented (see Figs. 8, 9, 10) as of a well-known kind, so far as they consist each of a pad 20 and a finger 21, pivoted thereto, and a spring 22, which always tends to close them.

To providein the movement of the foldingracks in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 4 for the opening and closing of these grippers to take opposite edges of two at a time of the six sheets S S S which have been deposited, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, upon their respective receiving-table D or D, stationary cams s s s in a. series of three, one before another, are provided, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, at opposite sides of and by the straight line 25 in Fig. 12, all in the same plane. The gripper fingers are provided, respectively,with upwardly-projecting studs on which are rollers u u M, which run against the cams for the purpose of opening the grippers and holding them open as they pass along the sides of their respective receiving-table, the pads 20 passing under the edges of the sheets S S S which project over the sides of the receiving-table, and the fingers 21 passing above the said edges. In order that the grippers of a group may all be opened at the proper time for their fingers 21 to'pass above the sheets and may be held open until all have arrived in positions to take their respective sheets S S S the three cams s s s are made of difierent horizontal lengths and vertical depths and the rollers 'Lb u a project upward to diflerent heights, all of which may be understood by reference to Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11,

12. deeper than 8. than to, and to projects higher than M.

The cam s is deeper than 3, and s is The roller u projects higher The grippers are all opened by the beveled or rounded end 26 of the cam 8 The grippers r are allowed to close to take the two sheets S when their low roller u? passes the front end 27 of the cam 3 but r are not allowed to close to take the two sheets S until their higher roller 11, passes the end 28 of the cam s, and r are not allowed to close and take the two sheets S until the highest roller a passes the end ofthe cam s. In this way the sheets S S S are all seized together to be carried forward to their respective folding-plate F or F, whereon they are all caused to be deposited two and two in succession, making altogether a single pile of six, by the opening of the several grippers at the proper times,respectively, which is effected by the gripperrollers passing stationary cams 30, (see Figl 4,) which are affixed to the rack-frames G G, one on each side of each folding-plate.

The folding-racks or carriers E E may be driven in any suitable manner. They are represented as deriving motion from a bevelgear 40 on the same shaft Z with the spur-gear Z which drives the reels, the said bevel-gear 4O gearing with a bevel-gear 41 on a shaft 42, which rotates in hearings in brackets on the framing and which transmits motion through its spur-gear 43 through stud-gears 44 45 to a spur-gear 46 on a shaft 47, on which are four spur-gears 48, which gear with and drive the racks.

The folding-plates F F are represented as slotted plates, such as are commonly used in paper-folding machinery, with reciprocating folding-blades H H Working perpendicularly in their slots 31. The said plates are represented as supported on stationary bars G'* G*, arranged crosswise of the rack-frames G G.

In or on these bars are the bearings for the pinching-rollers 10 p, which are arrangedbelow said plates on opposite sides of their slots to complete the folding of the sheets. The

folding-blades H H work in fixed upright guide-brackets 32 on the framing and are operated by cams 39 on a shaft I, arranged transversely to the directionof the run of the racks E E in hearings in the said guide-brackets.

On each of the folding-plates F F (see particular] y Fig. 4) are stationary but preferably adjustable upwardly-projecting stops 2; 11*, opposite to which joggers w w* project upward through the plate from below. The stops 4; are for stopping the sheets in the forward movement by which they are delivered to the plates and the joggers 'w-operating to even the sheets in a pile against said stops "0.

The stops 42* are for regulating the lateral position of the'sheets and the joggers 10* operating to even the sheets in the pileagainst said stops 0*. These joggers w of, which are shown in Figs. 1 and 4, will be best understood by reference to Figs. 13 and 14, which are on a larger scale and of which Fig. 13 represents a plan of one of each of said joggers and its operating mechanism and Fig. 14 an elevationof the same. The joggers w consist of arms carried by one of two rock-shafts 49, which work in fixed bearings in the framing and which are provided each with an arm 51, connected by a rod 52with one of two cranks 53 on the ends of the rotary shaft 42, before mentioned,which constitutes part of the driving-gear for the folding-rack. These crank-s produce the rocking of the rock-shafts 49 and the operation of the joggers w. The joggers 10* consist of arms carried by one of two rockshafts 54, which, arranged at right angles to the rock-shafts 49,work in suitable fixed bearings in brackets 56, carried by the said frames B B. The necessary motion of these rockshafts 54 is obtained from their respective rock-shafts 49 by bevel-toothed sectors55 on said rock-shafts 49 and 54, as will be well understood by reference to Figs. 13 and 14.

The pinching-rollers p under eachof the folding-plates F F are geared together, as usual, by spur-gears 57 and are driven by bevel-gears 58, one for each pair of rollers,

from an eccentric 61 on the shaft 2" of the reel 0, said eccentric being connected byits yoke-rod 62 with the upper arm of alever 63, carriedby a rock-shaft 64, which works in fixed hearings on the framing, and the lower arm of said lever 63 being connected by rods :10 0: with the two packers.

The stops q,hereinbefore mentioned, (shown in Figs. 3, 10, 15, 16,) for stopping the sheets in proper positions crosswise of the tables D D as they are deposited on the latter by the reels 0 O to be taken therefrom by the rack-grippers,are carriedby stationary brackets 1 on the rack-frames G G. One of the stops is shown in Fig. 10 in connection with the gripper 7' but shown separately in Figs. 15, 16, of which Fig. represents a transverse section of one of the rack-frames and a corresponding view of the stop, and Fig. 16 represents a view of the stop. In order to permit the grippers to pass them, said stops are pivoted loosely to their brackets by pivots 66, upon which they are free to swing out of the way as the grippers come against and pass by them. The parts of the said stops below their pivots are so much heavier than the operative parts above that after the passage by of the grippers they will swing back to their operative positions. The upper ends of the said stops are turned inward toward the receivingtables, as shown in Figs. 3 and 10, in order to keep down the forward edges of the sheets as they are deposited on said tables. On the opposite sides of the tables to those on which the said stops (1 are arranged there are guides 1*, which are pivoted in the same manner to brackets 11* on the opposite rack-frame. These guides (1* are like the stops q, except that their upper ends are turned outward to allow the tail ends of the sheets to pass easily over them. The space between the stops 1 and guides 1* is just equal to the width of the sheets, which as they are carried along by the grippers are guided evenly between said stops and guides.

The several parts of the machine are all represented as deriving motion from the gears Z and on the shaft V, which shaft is therefore the driving-shaft of the machine and is represented as furnished with a driving-pulley 67.

Having now described the several parts of the machine represented as embodying my invention and their several operations, I will now briefly describe the operation of cutting the sheets from the web and folding them into signatures. The web running over the roller (1 between the slitters e 2, receives continuously the two slits in the direction of its run, (indicated by the lines ct in Fig. 6.) Passing from the slitters between the drawing or feeding rollers g g, the slit portions of the web are cut off crosswise by the cutters h h at intervals (indicated by the lines I) in said figure) into groups, each consisting of three sheets, two of which groups are successively taken by the grippers j andj of the reel 0 and deposited, the second group superposed upon the first on the receiving-table D, making six sheets in all to be taken by the grippers of the endless racks. The next two groups of three sheets each cut oif by h h from the slit web are taken successively by the grippers j j* of the reel 0 and thence transferred successively by the latter grippers to the grippers 7' 3 of the reel 0 to be thereby deposited one upon another on the table D. In the operation which thus takes place between the grippers of the two reels 0 C the sheets are turned over, so that they are deposited upon the table D the same side up as those deposited by the reel 0 upon the table D. Immediately after the two groups have been received on either table D or D the grippers r r r of its respective folding-racks come along and take separately the two sheets S, the two sheets S, and the two sheets S of the two groups and carry them along to their respective folding-plate F or F, upon which they are deposited two and two in a pile of six to be folded together in the dotted lines 0, Figs. 6, 7, at one operation by their respective blade H or H, a signature of twentyfour pages being thus produced without insetting.

It will be understood that as the cut sheets are deposited upon the tables D alternately they will also be taken from said tables alternately, and therefore the grippers r 0" r of the two racks will be so arranged, respectively, thereon as to produce these alternate operations. It will be also understood that the folding-blades and the joggers applied to the folding-plates must have their operating mechanisms arranged and organized to operate alternately at proper regular intervals.

By the duplication of the reels, the receiving-tables, the gripper-carrying racks, and the folding devices as described the machine is made to do its work without any appreciable intermission, one set of the gripper-carrying racks and folding devices operating while the reel 0 or O of the other set is carrying the cut sheets to and depositing them upon its respective table D or D.

It is obvious that more or less than two slitters e 6 may be used to slit the web into more or less than three strips and produce more or less than the three sheets in a group and the signature of more or less than twentyfonr pages, as in the sample described. In such cases the number of sets of grippers on the folding-racks will correspond with the number of sheets in each of the two groups to be deposited one on another on the tables D D and taken therefrom by the racks to the folding-plates to be folded together thereon into the signature.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination of a slitter for slitting a web in the direction of its length, a cutter for cutting transversely the so-slit portions of the web into sheets, a receiving-table for the socut sheets, a carrier for depositing the so-cut sheets in a group one before another on said table, folding devices, and a carrier for receiving the sheets from said table and presenting them one upon another in one pile to said folding devices to be thereby all folded at once and together, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination of a slitter for slitting a web in the direction of its length, a cutter for cutting transversely the so-slit portions of the web into sheets, a receiving-table for the socut sheets, a rotary carrier for depositing said sheets in a group one before another on said table, folding devices, and an endless carrier arranged to run transversely to the axes of said rotary carrier to receive the sheets from said table and present them one upon another in a pile to said folding devices to be thereby all folded at once and together, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination of a slitter for slitting a web in the direction of its length, a cutter for cutting transversely the so-slit portions of the Web into sheets, a receivingtable for said sheets, a rotary carrier for depositing said sheets in a group one before another on said table, a folding-plate, an endless carrier arranged to run transversely to the axes of said rotary carrier to receive the sheets from said table and pile them one upon another upon said plate and a folding-blade operating through said plate for folding at once and together the so-piled sheets, substantially as herein described.

4. The combination of a slitter for slitting a web in the direction of its length, a cutter for cutting transversely the so-slit portions into sheets, a receiving-table for said sheets, a carrier for taking successively cut groups of sheets from said cutters and depositing said groups one upon another upon said table, folding devices, a carrier for taking together the sheets of the so-deposited groups from said table and presenting the several sheets of the groups in a single pile to the folding devices to be thereby folded all at once and together, substantially as herein described.

5. The combination of a sli tter for slitting a web in the direction of its length, a cutter for cutting transversely the so-slit portions of the web into groups of sheets, a receiving-table for said sheets, a rotary carrier for taking successively cut groups of sheets from said cutters and depositing said groups one upon another on said table, folding devices, and an endless carrier arranged to run transversely to the axes of said rotary carrier for taking together the sheets of the so-deposited groups from said table and presenting the several sheets of the groups in a single pile to the folding devices to be thereby folded all at once and together, substantially as herein described.

6. The combination of a slitter for slitting a web in the direction of its length, a cutter for cutting transversely the so-slit portions of the Web into sheets, two tables arranged side by side for receiving the sheets, carriers for depositing the so-cut sheets upon one and the other of said tables alternately, folding devices, one in advance of each of said tables, and carriers one for each of said tables for taking said sheets from said tables and presenting them in piles to the folding devices, substantially as herein described.

'7. The combination of a slitter for slitting a web in the direction of its length, a cutter-for cutting transversely the so-slit portions of the Web into sheets, two rotary carriers for taking alternately the so-cut sheets from said out ters, a table for receiving the so-cut sheets from one of said carriers, a third rotary carrier for receiving the sheets from the other ofsaid two rotary carriers, a second table for receiving the so-cut sheets from said otherca'rrier, folding devices one in advance of each of said tables, and carriers one for each of said tables for taking said sheets from said tables and presenting them in piles to the folding devices, substantially as herein described.

8. The combination of a slitter for slitting a web in the direction of its length, a cutter for cutting transversely the so-slit portions of the web into sheets, a receiving-table for said sheets, a rotary carrier for depositing said ceived all the sheets of the group and thereby folding together all the said sheets, substantially as herein described.

9. The combination of a receiving-table, a carrier running in one direction fordepositing together on said table a plurality of sheetsin a line one before another, folding devices, and a second carrier running in a direction transverse to that first mentioned for taking the alined sheets from said table and presenting one upon another in one pile to said folding devices to be thereby folded at once and together, substantially as herein described.

10. The combination of a receiving-table, a rotary carrier for depositing together on said vtable a plurality of sheets in line one before another, folding devices, a carrier consisting of endless chains and grippers running on opposite sides of said table in a direction transverse to the first-mentioned carrier, and stationary cams for operating said grippers to take the alined sheets from said table and presenting them one upon another in one pile to said folding devices to be thereby folded at once andtogether, substantially as herein described.

11. The combination of a receiving-table, a rotary carrier for depositing together a plurality of sheets in a group one before another onsaid table, folding devices, an endless carrier arranged to run transversely to the axis of said rotary carrier to take the sheets from said table and present them one after another in a pile to said folding devices, and stops arranged at one side of said table to stop the.

said grippers, and pivotal supports for said stops on which they are capable of swinging automatically to permit the passage by them of the grippers, substantially as herein described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name, in presence of two Witnesses, this 19th day of May, 1902.

EDGAR H. COTTRELL.

Witnesses:

A. R. STILLMAN, THEODORE DOWNS. 

